Notes

Reread Akatsuki no Yona a few days ago, since I haven't been feeling well and had missed the last ten chapters or so, and immediately remembered how much I adore HakYona. They're such a great fun ship, so before I knew it I was ignoring all the stuff I've been working on and worked on this instead, ahaha. Anyways, there's no real manga spoilers in here besides one line that isn't descriptive at all, so you can read this if you've only watched the anime with no trouble. I don't think I really did these two justice, but I sure had fun writing this anyways, which is all that matters.

Prompts (and theme) taken from the 5things livejournal, I used table one here. Enjoy!

The First Attempt

i. bruise

The Princess had always been a clumsy girl, Hak knew. Even when they were children and she had no care to be princess-like, she held none of the grace that her late mother ever held. It was a blessing she had that red hair of hers, Hak often thought; otherwise, nobody would be able to tell her from just another girl.

Hak, as her personal guard, was oftentimes cleaning up her messes. Sometimes this involved apologizing to whoever had to actually clean whatever she broke, other times this involved taking her to the castle's personal healer. Most of the time, however, this meant dealing with her crying or getting fussy over something or another while the entire castle tripped over itself to clean up after her.

Today was one such day.

"It's just a bruise, Princess, it'll go away," Hak ground out, after checking it himself thoroughly. He wasn't concerned, or anything, it's just that it was his job to guard the Princess. Anything that happened to her was automatically his own fault, and he couldn't have her getting too seriously injured. Yes, no concern at all. None whatsoever.

Yona didn't seem to think so. She stomped her foot petulantly, glaring daggers at him. "But Hak! You know who will be here tomorrow, don't you?" She asked, her voice sharp.

Hak let out an irritable sigh. How could he have forgotten. "Yes, I'm sure Soo-Won will be terribly worried about you. How terrible," he said, looking away from the Princess to ignore the pang in his chest at her words. Of course, he thought, no wonder she's so worried.

It irritated him, yes, but he had long since accepted his fate. He was their protector, and that was that. He would serve them happily, once they married and ruled over Kouka. Hak loved them both, albeit in drastically different ways, but he knew he would never regret a life of serving the two most important people to him. There was no way.

"But Hak, I look disgusting! This bruise covers so much of my face, he'll never want to look at me like this!" Yona whined, dropping down onto the ground. Hak rolled his eyes good naturedly, but bent down to become eye level with the Princess once more.

"It's just a bruise, Princess. He won't think you're disgusting. Besides," he said, his voice growing quiet, "you're still beautiful to me."

Hak held his breath, waiting for a response. It was rare for him to give out compliments, even more so to the Princess, so he wondered briefly how she would take it. The two of them had known each other for so long, yet Hak still found it hard to know how she'd react to things sometimes. He had much to learn about her, still.

He regretted saying it, though, the second it came out of his mouth. He knew she was loyal to Soo-Won, and he couldn't fault Yona for that. Soo-Won was a good friend, and a better man than Hak felt he could ever be. He was a perfect choice for King. For that reason alone, Hak knew he had to bury his feelings for the Princess. Nothing should get in the way of their happiness - least of all him.

Despite knowing all this, it was hard for him to keep it to himself. He was around the Princess all day, after all, and squashing down every instance of affection was no easy feat.

"Do you really mean that, Hak?" His eyes snapped to hers as she spoke, her voice soft and small; sounding much like the little girl she still was, no matter how much she denied it.

"I… yes?" Hak responded hesitantly. This situation had went from controlled and usual to way out of his comfort zone so quickly, he wasn't quite sure how this had happened.

It was practically an everyday occurrence that the Princess hurt herself and he had to deal with the aftermath. What had made him slip up this time, he wondered.

"You really think he won't find me disgusting? Even with this nasty bruise?" Yona's voice was full of hope, but Hak felt himself deflate. Either she hadn't heard him, or she was ignoring him entirely. Neither option was one he liked, though he knew he should be grateful.

Instead he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "How many times do I have to say it, Princess? It's Soo-Won. I'm sure he'll just be worried for you," he said, pushing everything back into his head. Even if she was ignoring him, it didn't matter, Hak convinced himself. It was better this way.

The Princess nodded slowly, moving her hands up to wipe away the tears that had started to form. It's been a long time since I've seen her this upset, Hak thought, but again brushed the thought aside quickly. It was of no matter to him why she was this upset about something as ridiculous as a small bruise on her cheek from slamming into a door.

Yes, he remembered, that's right. It didn't matter. He was her guard, her personal servant, and that's all he would ever be. It didn't matter if she had heard his mild confession. Just the other day, he had resolve himself to lock away these feelings. Hak couldn't possibly give up now.

"Well, if that's the case, then I suppose I should practice my dance routine more," Princess Yona said, interrupting him from his thought. "Out with you then, Hak! I can't have you messing up my moves!" She stood back up, making shooing motions with her hands, and Hak did his best to laugh at her like usual.

"Alright, alright, I'll be going," he said, squashing whatever it was he felt at those words. "I'll be right outside for when you fall and bruise something else, Princess!"

He ran out the door before she could throw things at him again. Yes, he reminded himself. Much better. This is my place. I'll do well to remember that next time.

The Second Attempt

ii. nightmare

Neither Hak nor Princess Yona were strangers to nightmares, especially after being chased from Kouka's castle. Their first month on the run while searching for the dragons had them both constantly on edge, never sure whether they could hold their own or not, and often found them waking up drenched in sweat, remembering that horrid night.

Now that all four dragons had come together, and after the threat of the Fire Tribe had been resolved, things had gotten a bit quieter, in terms of their dreams. Hak especially, found himself able to sleep easier on the nights where he was surrounded by everyone else peacefully sleeping, Yoon's food happily sitting in his stomach.

The Princess, however, did not share his ease.

Night after night, it appeared her nightmares were back. Often, she would awaken and immediately begin training herself, whether with her bow or sword. Sometimes she would just sit, and look at everything around her; reminding herself that she was no longer the ignorant princess of Kouka, but instead a girl trying to do her best for the country she loved.

Hak would often join her on those nights, somehow finding it hard to get back to sleep once he knew that she was awake. The nights the two of them sat and just spoke quietly together were nights that Hak cherished, even if they were brought about by the scars the Princess carried with her. He yearned to tell her how proud of her he was, but every time he tried, he pushed the words back down.

This journey had been hard on him, for obvious reasons, but the more the Princess grew, the harder it became to hide his true feelings. Hak was lucky, as Yona was quite oblivious to male affection towards her, but every light brush of their hands or hug that they shared almost pained him.

Jae-Ha had taken to trying to convince him to tell her, instead of just tormenting him, and this just infuriated Hak more. Jae-Ha may only see it as something simple, a relief of sorts, to tell her, but the green dragon wouldn't understand.

Besides, Hak told himself, if it were true that it wouldn't cause any issues, than Jae-Ha could spare him the lecture and take his own advice, couldn't he?

Tonight, those thoughts wouldn't leave him alone, and he got up from where he tried to sleep to look into the night.

"Yo," he said, tapping Shin-ah on the shoulder, "I'll take over from here. You get some rest." His voice was soft, not wanting to wake anyone else, but he knew Shin-Ah understood. The blue dragon nodded in thanks, and went to find space for himself amongst their group to sleep.

Once Shin-Ah had settled, Hak moved up a bit father, staring into the forest.

"What am I going to do with you, Princess," he murmured to himself, putting his head down. The forest around him didn't respond, only light gusts of wind in the trees making any sort of noise back. Hak sighed, looking back up only to be met with the Princess' eyes.

He staggered back, careful not to wake his companions. "Princess?"

"I couldn't sleep," she admitted to him, taking a seat next to him on the grass. "I've been thinking too much, I think."

Hak smiled, lightly tapping her on the head. "You sure you've got power up there?"

Teasing her came so naturally. How many years had it been, since he had known her? Hak couldn't honestly remember, now. His life was all recorded by moments of Yona. Trying to figure out how far back it went seemed impossible to him.

Yona frowned at him good naturedly for the comment, but didn't turn to face him. She kept her eyes straight ahead at the open forest as she continued to speak.

"I've been having more nightmares, recently, but they've stopped being about that night," she confessed. "I'm glad for it, but I also almost feel… bad, in a way?" Yona closed her eyes, and Hak watched her carefully as she spoke. These were the moments he lived for: where he could pretend, for just a moment, he had a chance of being more than just her servant.

He never knew where he stood with the Princess, constantly going back in forth in his head between I'm just a tool and I'm her close friend and confidant. These moments, it was easier to believe the latter, for once.

"It's almost like I'm letting go, which is good, but I almost feel like I'm not ready. Like if I let go of what I felt that night, I'll lose my way again. I don't want to be ignorant again," Yona said softly. "I like who I've become, who I'm becoming. I want to," she took a deep breath, and Hak stared at her in wonder, "I want to become someone who can protect those I love. I don't want to fall back on 'oh, I've came this far'. I'm scared that if I forget what I felt that night, I won't want to push ahead."

Hak mulled this over, still basking in the feeling of being trusted like this, for a moment. He closed his own eyes before speaking.

"I don't think just because you've stopped dreaming about what happened you will ever stop growing, Princess," he told her honestly. "You've come far, yes, but you know there's more you'd like to do. That feeling will continue to drive you, regardless of anything else. And," he sighed, "just because you no longer dream of it doesn't mean it doesn't still hurt. You and I both know better than that."

Yona nodded, letting his words sink in. Hak took his own deep breath. He wanted to stop himself, but the words just kept coming out. Was this what Jae-Ha had been talking about?

"Princess, I'm proud of who you've become, but even if you decided that enough was enough, I would never leave your side. I'm yours to do with as you see fit, no matter where you go or what you decide. I will always follow you. In this life and the next." His words were open, honest, but he prayed that she would not get the double meaning behind them. Yona had always been particularly oblivious when it had come to him, and Hak prayed that stayed the case tonight. Anytime he made these sorts of declarations, they were immediately met with anxiety from himself - did he just give himself up? Will she allow him to continue serving her if she knows? - and tonight was no different.

Yona finally looked at him and smiled, tears prickling the corners of her eyes. "Thank you, Hak." Hak's eyes widened as she brought a hand to lightly brush over his. "Your support means so much to me."

The Princess got up from her spot, looking back to where her dragons and Yoon all slept peacefully. "I think I'll try sleeping again tonight. Thank you for keeping watch," she said, waving a hand at him as she walked back towards their camp, as Hak watched her in almost morbid fascination.

He could almost hear Jae-Ha in his head, taunting him for not being more direct. Hak let his head fall into his hands yet again, stifling a groan.

This was too much for his heart to take. He needed to abide by his own rules, damn it, and give up on the Princess.

It had been too many years, anyway. She would never understand.

The Third Attempt

iii. hopeless

"If you're going to give up, I can always tell her for you."

The green dragon perched himself over Hak's shoulder, looking at him smugly after what had just transpired. Again, Hak had slipped just how deep his loyalty to the Princess went. And again, of course, the Princess had mistaken it for just loyalty, and ignored the incredibly heavy handed romantic subtext.

Again.

Hak threw a glare to Jae-Ha, not in any kind of mood to deal with the overly affectionate dragon after another humiliation. It wasn't even that Hak really wanted her to know, after all - risk ruining the beautiful… thing, they had? No way. Not something he was interested in doing. But at the very least, a response of some kind would be nice. Even just a simple 'please don't' or something. Just so he could finally be at peace from these thoughts.

But no, the Princess was cruel, even unintentionally, and continued to torture him.

Hak sighed.

"Go bother someone else, Droopy Eyes. I'm sure the White Snake is eager for your affections," he said, not even bothering to spare a glance at the dragon.

"Come now, that's no fun. I'm sure Yona-chan would be sad to hear you pawn me off so easily," Jae-Ha continued, dramatically pretending to faint. Hak grit his teeth but said nothing. "Are you sure you don't want me to tell her? I'm sure she'd listen to what I have to say."

"Tell me what?"

Hak looked up in mild shock to see the Princess staring at him as she walked ahead with Yoon and the others. Jae-Ha snickered from his side.

"I'm always here to listen to you, Hak. You shouldn't feel the need to keep secrets from me!" Yona sounded hurt at the assumption, and Hak held back a groan.

"Don't worry, Princess, it's nothing -"

"Oh, Yona-chan! You must listen! Hak's in grave danger," Jae-Ha said, winking at Hak as he strode towards the Princess. "If you don't listen to what I have to say, who knows what could happen to our poor Thunder Beast!"

Yona immediately stopped, concerned. "Jae-Ha, you better not be joking," she said in a low tone, glancing over to see Hak avoiding her gaze as much as possible.

Draping an arm around her, Jae-Ha shook his head. "Oh, no, Yona-chan. I don't mean physically. Well, I do, but not quite in the way you're thinking…"

He trailed off, dragging a semi-unwilling Yona with him as Hak did his best to ignore them. He stared at his feet as he walked, trailing far behind the rest of the group, not wanting to hear what Jae-Ha was feeding the Princess. He didn't notice, however, her tuning out her green dragon, instead casting many a worried glance over her shoulder at her Thunder Beast.

"Yona-chan," Jae-Ha said, interrupting her glances. His voice had went from its usual flighty tone to something more serious. "I'm sorry to have made you worry about Hak. But please, listen to what he says sometimes. I think it would help both of you out greatly."

Yona looked at him, curious. "Listen to him? About what? I always hear him, but I'm not going to follow his every order."

Jae-Ha smiled at her, and shook his head lightly. "That's not what I mean, don't worry. By all means, keep ignoring him when your gut tells you to." Yona smiled at him, but let him continue, curious as to what he meant if not that. "Listen to him. Try to think outside of the box, if you will."

Yona bobbed her head, trying to process what he had said. After mulling it over for a bit, her eyes lit up.

"Hak!" She called out, pulling herself from Jae-Ha's grasp. "I think I get it now!"

Hak, who had been trying his best not to pay attention, quickly looked up, mortified. Panic was obvious on his face, yet the young princess didn't seem to notice. "You do?" He gulped as Yona walked over to him.

"Yes! I understand you're worried for me, but please, the only way for me to get stronger is to train. I don't want to have to rely on everyone all the time, okay? I'm not trying to hurt you by making your job difficult," she said, her eyes dropping to the ground. "I'm sorry. I know it's your job to protect me, but I make it very difficult, don't I?"

Choking back a scream, Hak managed a smile. Though it probably came out more like a grimace, he kept it up. Anything for the Princess, after all. "It's okay, Princess," he said. His voice was strained, even to his ears. "I understand you wanting to get stronger. You've shown great discipline."

Yona smiled, her whole face lighting up at his words.

"But," Hak continued, "you going into battle is never going to be easy for me. I'm never going to accept it with a smile on my face." It pained him, thinking about it, even despite the current mess. "You are free to do what you want, always, but please understand that I will always be by your side."

The words he spoke were similar to something he had told her earlier, while they had stopped for lunch and she went out hunting for birds. Conveying his feelings without letting loose his actual feelings on the matter seemed to get harder and harder as their time away from the castle went on. When Hak was living at the castle, it was easy for him to remember his place. Daily meetings with the King, servants and guards everywhere… There was no question, then, what the lines between him and the Princess were.

Out here, away from all that, the lines blurred more and more, and Hak wasn't sure where he still stood anymore. Which unfortunately, lead to conversations like these: where Hak had trouble keeping himself in check. Not that it mattered much; Princess Yona was oblivious as ever, but he couldn't help but worry.

"Oh Hak," Yona sighed, walking on ahead a bit. "I didn't think it'd be easy for you, but I appreciate your willingness anyway. You've gotten much better since when we first left the castle!"

Hak couldn't help his snort. "Yeah, at least you can do things now. When you first tried out that bow you couldn't even draw it properly."

Yona stomped her feet, but laughed, moving up to check on how the others were doing. Jae-Ha came back from the group, laughter in his eyes as he approached the Thunder Beast.

"You two are hopeless," the green dragon chuckled, eyes towards the Princess. "I swear, you could tell her directly and she still wouldn't understand what you meant."

Hak's eyes darkened. "Don't get any ideas, Droopy Eyes."

The Fourth Attempt

iv. lost

"I can't believe we're lost," Hak hissed, clutching his Quandao. "How could I have let this happen?"

That was the leading question of the night, indeed.

Princess Yona and the Thunder Beast had went out on a nightly hunt for dinner. With the seasons changing, though, the sun set much faster than it did previously. Before they knew it, stalking a bird had turned into trying to find where their prey had went, and that turned into…

"We're really lost?"

Hak sighed, frustrated. His Quandao rested against his shoulder, his grip on the polearm only getting stronger. "It'll be fine, Princess," he said. "We couldn't have gone too far. I just can't believe I was so careless."

Which was true. Hak was usually extremely careful when it came to going anywhere with the Princess. He prided himself on being aware of everything around him. Usually, something like this would've never happened. Usually, though, a certain green dragon's pestering wouldn't have been bothering him so much, either.

If you wait around long enough, someone else might steal her away, you know.

Jae-Ha's words rung loudly in Hak's ears, despite having been said hours ago. It had been an ordinary morning, leaving the village they had helped the day before. Boys around the Princess' age weren't too common in these parts, but there were a few in this village. They had stayed behind from being drafted, apparently, since they were healers.

And of course, these boys had taken an interest in Yona.

Oblivious as always, Yona hadn't noticed anything about how they were acting towards her. She fended off their advances with smiles, while Hak stood by menacingly. As they were leaving the village, Jae-Ha had pulled him aside, a smile hiding his darkened eyes:

If you wait around long enough, someone else might steal her away, you know.

Those words had been plaguing the Thunder Beast all day, leading to this predicament. He couldn't believe himself. Getting lost in thought was one thing, but this was a new low for Hak.

Yona looked at him carefully. Even in the dark, he could feel her eyes on him. "Are you alright, Hak? You seem like you've been a bit out of it since this morning."

He turned away from her curious stare, trying to force himself to focus on the forest around him. "Yeah, I'm fine," he said shortly, doing his best to listen for their companions. "Just hungry," Hak added after a moment to appease the Princess.

He wasn't looking at her, but he heard her sigh from behind him. "You know you can talk to me, right? I know I don't have all the answers, but if something's bothering you," Yona trailed off, her voice growing small.

Hak forced himself to brighten up. Getting lost was already unforgivable, but making the Princess worry about him was even worse, in his mind. This wasn't like him at all.

"It's really nothing, Princess," he smiled again, turning around to face her. He put one hand on her shoulder, ignoring the way his face burned on contact. "Please don't worry about me. Let me focus on getting us back to camp."

Yona nodded, but didn't look convinced. "If you say so."

Weighing his options, Hak sighed. It was looking very likely that they wouldn't find their way back tonight, with how dark it was growing, and he did not want the Princess to feel awkward or like she was burdening him when they were alone together for the night. He could speak to her about what was bothering him so, but she would likely not understand the implications or…

Or it would ruin everything, he knew. Taking his hand off her shoulder, he turned around again, but this time closed his eyes and turned his face to the sky. He wouldn't tell her everything, he decided. Just a little, so she'd stop worrying.

Hak took a deep breath before speaking. "I don't want anyone to take you away from me, Princess," he said, feeling bolder with every word. "I know it's selfish of me, but I want to stay by your side, always."

Yona laughed a bit, moving closer to him. "What? Where did this come from? I'm not going anywhere. My place is with you all."

Hak felt himself deflate, but yet his heart caught all the same. When she said things like this, it was easy for him to imagine that she wasn't as dense as he pegged her to be. That she understood his double meanings and maybe reciprocated.

That was dangerous territory, for Hak.

"I don't think you understand," he said slowly, letting out a puff of air. "I don't want you to go anywhere."

"I'm not going anywhere," Yona told him firmly, putting her own hand on his arm. Instantly he felt himself flush at the contact. "There's nothing for you to worry about. I'm not sure where this is coming from, but you really don't have to worry."

"Okay," he managed to tell her, removing himself from her grip. "I believe you."

The Princess instantly brightened up. "Great!" She chirped. "Should we still look for a way back, then? Or should we just give up for the night? I don't want them to worry, but it's not like we'll have anything to bring back anyways."

"We can keep looking for them, if you'd like."

In the silence of listening for the rest of the Happy Hungry Bunch, Hak felt his heartbeat finally grow steadier. He knew his resolve: to keep his feelings locked away, so the Princess would never have to make a choice. Despite his mantra, it was getting harder and harder to stick to it.

If you wait around long enough, someone else might steal her away, you know.

Another breath of air tumbled from his lips.

If that happened, then so be it. That was her choice to make. He would never take that away from her, never force his own selfish desires onto her.

Yes, Hak steeled himself. I won't worry over this anymore.

The Fifth Attempt

v. alone

"We seem to get stuck in caves alone together a lot, huh?" Yona asked, a hint of laughter in her voice.

Hak bristled. He remembered the first time they had been stuck together, how it felt to put his lips on her skin. With how touchy the Princess had been with him lately, he knew he would have trouble controlling himself this time around.

"Anyways, I suppose we should get comfortable and wait out the rain, yes?"

Sighing, Hak nodded. "Might as well, Princess." He sat down on the thankfully dry stone, moving his Quandao out of the way but still within reach, worst came to worst.

Yona followed suit, situating herself down close to him. "So," she spoke, meeting his eyes, "what's been going on with you lately?"

Groaning, Hak put his head into his hands. "Can we do this some other time, Princess?" What had been going on with him lately was that it was getting harder and harder to suppress his feelings for the red haired girl in front of him.

Jae-Ha had been particularly bad, making sure to drape himself all over her every time Hak was nearby; looking directly at him to make sure he noticed. Even Yoon had told him he should just man up and tell her already, because apparently all of the Happy Hungry Bunch was done with him.

His irritation was palpable, even now, and Yona knew it.

"No, we cannot do this another time."

"If I didn't know any better, I would've said you got us stranded out here just to corner me," Hak said, trying to make light of what was about to happen. Maybe if he distracted her, the rain would let up enough that he could escape without having to have this talk.

"Maybe I did," Yona challenged him with a small smile. "But really, what has been going on? I've never seen you this continuously angry before."

Guilt began to set in. Hak had thought that he was doing a good job of keeping himself in check, but if the Princess was this worried… Clearly he had been mistaken.

"It was never my intention to make you worry, Princess," he said to her honestly. It wasn't an answer, and he knew that, but he hoped it was enough to get her to focus on something else.

Yona, however, sighed. "It never is, I know." She shrunk into herself, and Hak watched her carefully. "You've been keeping your distance from all of us so much, I just can't help but wonder…"

Hak felt his breath get stuck in his throat, but forced himself to speak, anyways. "Wonder what." His throat felt dry even as he spoke.

"Do you want to stop traveling with us?" She asked him, her voice full of an emotion he couldn't place.

It took him a minute to process what she said. Out of everything Yona could've asked him in that moment, somehow she found the one thing he would've never expected her to say. Normally, he would smile at the thought - Yona was always surprising him, even now, after so many years.

Instead, Hak just found himself getting angry.

"What kind of question is that?" He snapped, doing his best to reign himself in. This was the Princess, after all, and even after such a stupid question-

"I mean it, though. You don't seem happy with us, lately. If you want to go back to Fuga, you should. I won't hold you here." There was that tone that he didn't recognize again, but Hak ignored it in favor of his temper for the moment. He would analyze it later, when he had gotten his point through the Princess' thick skull.

"Seriously, the hell kind of question is that! What would even make you think that was the case?" Taking deep breaths, Hak attempted to calm himself. It wasn't her fault, he tried to remind himself. She was only worried because I had been making her worried, he thought, drilling that into his own head. He had brought himself into this mess, now he should get himself out.

"Well," Yona's voice turned sour, "you never tell us about how you're feeling. Lately, all you've been doing is moping and keeping to yourself. And on top of that, you flinch every time I touch you!" She ticked off on her fingers, counting each reason she came up with. "It certainly doesn't feel like you want to be here anymore."

"Of course I want to be here! I just," Hak huffed, aggravation growing, "don't want to talk about it. I can handle it myself."

"That's not working anymore. Tell me what's going on," Yona said, her voice hard. "If there's something going on with you that's affecting the team, I deserve to know."

Hak narrowed his eyes. "The team, huh," he ground out. This was bad. He knew he was losing himself to his temper, but at this point, there was little that he could do to stop it. To think, no matter how many times he told her that he was loyal to only her, and wanted nothing more than to be by her side, that she would somehow think he wanted to leave. Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.

"What?"

He hadn't realized he had said that last part aloud.

"It's the truth, Princess. How many times have I told you I want nothing more than to be next to you? And yet you ask me something as stupid as if I want to leave? Where did you possibly -" Hak cut himself off. He would tell her. He would tell her so she could stop worrying, and maybe if he told her, he could stop feeling so aggravated all the time. It's just like Jae-Ha had told him months and months ago, but he would ignore that.

"You want the truth, Princess?" Yona nodded at him, clearly a bit taken back by his clipped voice. "Fine. The truth is that I can't stop thinking about you. Every day, every waking moment, I'm consumed by thoughts of you. Going back to Fuuga won't stop that. Continuing to travel won't stop that. Nothing is going to stop that."

"I don't understand," she said softly after a moment.

His laugh sounded bitter. He put his face in his hands again, not wanting to look at her in this moment. "Princess Yona, I'm in love with you. Do you understand now?"

Silence. The silence seemed to last forever. Slowly, slowly, Hak brought his face up from his cradle of hands to see Yona staring at him dumbly, a shocked expression on her face. She seemed to be nodding, but hadn't said anything yet.

Feeling ten pounds lighter, Hak sighed, slumping over. At least, he realized then, nothing was really changing. He was still Hak, and she was still the Princess. His biggest fear passing made the world seem a little brighter.

"It's fine," he said, pushing himself off the ground. "You don't have to say anything. But now you know, Princess." Looking out to the opening of the cave, his eyes brightened when he realized that it wasn't raining any longer. "Well, looks like we can go back to the inn, now," he told her, grabbing his Quandao.

Yona continued to stare dumbfounded, unsure of what to make of everything, but slowly pushed herself up as well.

"Right," her voice was shaky as she followed him out. Hak smirked to himself. To think that telling her his feelings would have such an effect on her.

They weren't even halfway back from the inn when Yona grabbed onto Hak, stopping him dead in his tracks. Pushing her forehead into his back, she spoke to him quietly.

"You… I… love? Too?" Her words were a jumbled mess, but Hak turned and took the Princess into his arms immediately.

It wasn't a full confession, but it was much more than he ever dreamed of hearing. Yona wrapped herself into him, burying her burning face into his chest while he inhaled the scent of her hair.

"That's fine," he repeated himself. "You don't have to say anything. Being by your side is all I'll ever need."

Yes, that was true. There was nothing more he could ask for if he got to stay by her side. It's all he had ever dreamed of. Anything else - becoming her friend, or in this case, getting to hold her... Those were all bonuses, to him.

Yona squeaked something back, but he just pulled her into him even tighter than before. These feelings of his were selfish, he knew, and part of him was still horrified that he had told her after so long. As long as the Princess didn't mind, though…

He would hold her for as long as she wanted. Anytime.